


Just The Beginning

by bluebrise



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur's Return, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Merthur Party 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 18:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1163112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebrise/pseuds/bluebrise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is not the end. One day, Arthur will return. And I’ll be here, like I always have been. By his side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> My first fan fic ever shared and it's a quick, one shot :D I think it's called a...drabble? Maybe? Anyways, this was written for Merthur Party 2013, Day 6 "Just The Beginning." This piece was inspired by the instrumental track I composed for the Day 5 prompt, "Not The End."

A deep blue glittering with moonlight filters through the rippling waves. Flickers of light reveal a man. Weightless, he ascends, the darkness releasing its firm grip. Regaining consciousness, his arms push his way to the surface of the lake.

_I am standing on firm ground for this first time in centuries. The tide ebbs and flows, drifting back into itself and away from me. I’m free._

_I turn to the land. Nothing is familiar._

The cold night shadows the landscape, hiding the truth of change and what time has done to the place this man once called home. Moonlight catches on fragments of the scene before him. Rocks, a boat, a foot path. He follows the trail.

There is a cabin. Wooden slats buried into the ground at intermittent levels create a stairway leading to the shelter built into the sloping land. The sight of the structure relaxes him. The floorboards creak on the makeshift porch. Gloved fingers reach for the door handle. It’s unlocked.

He crosses the threshold, making his way to the stone fireplace across the way. Once a fire is stoked, he tends to his soaking garments. Pealing off armor and layers of thick, wet clothes, and boots, he remembers who tended to the task with ease and diligence.

“Who’s there?” The door to the cabin opens as the raspy voice asks the cautionary question. He turns and sees an old man. The old man takes few steps forward, smiling to himself. “Don’t plan on breaking another one of my pots, do you?”

The man rises to his feet, briefly looking down to brush the dirt off his trousers. When his eyes meet the man before him again, they are young and clear and welcoming. Old age gone, youth restored.

“Merlin-”

“Hello, Arthur.”

After a handshake that turns into an embrace, they sit by the fire and settle in for conversation. Just as they’ve always done.


End file.
